Oh what a rat race

Nutter:

@Mariory,

Did you read your link at all? I suggest you start reading from page 3. Your link destroys your argument. You shouldn't have posted it.

Definition of blind trusts as defined in both links you provided
Sun: A blind trust is a trust arrangement for the management of assets in which the owner has no voice, used especially to avoid conflict of interests. Politicians often place their assets in blind trusts so that they cannot be accused of conflict of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.

DAWODU.COM: A blind trust is a trust in which the executors or those who have been given power of attorney have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust. Blind trusts are generally used when a trustor wishes to keep the beneficiary unaware of the specific assets in the trust, such as to avoid conflict of interest between the beneficiary and the investments. Politicians often place their assets in blind trusts so they cannot be accused of conflict of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blindtrust.asp
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blind+trust&x=0&y=0

So in actual fact, there has been illegal act committed here. The code of Conduct has not been broken. Now arguments as to whether Obj should have such a move or not are simply opinions of various individuals.
However, I am of the opinion that he should not have made this move while he was still president especially with the situation we have in Nigeria. That does not change the fact that there was no illegal act in him investing in Transcorp via a blind trust.

To all the Transcorp haters, its official - Obasanjo plans to divest from Transcorp, what a
masterstroke? But I am sure even that won't be enough to satisfy some of you. Feel free
to dream up something else about Transcorp.

Whether you guys care to admit or not, your enigma, Transcorp is winning the battle slowly.
As Ndi said, come September 30th, the list of Transcorp shareholders will be filed with the
NSE in preparation for their IPO. I am not a broker, but I believe, in the filings, you are
making a declaration or accounting for the number of current investors and their respective
holdings.

You bet, Obasanjo's exit from Transcorp will only ignite the demand for its shares when the
IPO debut because most people who were sitting on the sidelines will regain the confidence
to invest now that his shareholding status with the company has been clarified, and rightfully
so I must add.

This is a rat race that will lead to no where. It will end up the way of third term investigation, all is a ruse and a cover up. Ribadu is doing a good job but is he independent?

I suspect this Iyke_d guy is on trancorp's payroll. I even suspect he's Nicholas Okoye Cloaking. Or It mite even be N_d _d Okereke herself . I mean cosidering the _d part of his or is it her name.

Talk About Bad Leadership. Oh I weep I weep I weep
Nigeria, 13 others fragile – World Bank
By Biodun Sonowo and Oluyinka Akintunde, with agency report
Published: Friday, 15 Sep 2006
The Independent Evaluation Group, a unit of the World Bank, on Thursday, listed Nigeria and 13 others as countries at the risk of collapse.

Skip to next paragraph

Photo file
President Olusegun Obasanjo

The group’s prediction was contained in a report titled,“Engaging with Fragile States: An IEG Review of World Bank Support to Low-Income Countries Under Stress.’’

The report was released at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Singapore.

The IEG cited “an increase in corruption and deteriorating governance” as factors that endangered Nigeria’s existence.

The Bloomberg News said that with the 14 new entrants, the number of fragile nations globally had risen to 26.

The agency however named only Nigeria, East Timor, Cambodia and Kosovo as being part of the 14 new fragile nations. It was silent on the 10 others.

But it listed Central African Republic; Cote d’Ivoire; Togo; Burundi; Democratic Republic of Congo; Guinea-Bissau; Guinea; Liberia; Somalia; Sudan; Zimbabwe; Comoros; Eritrea; the Solomon Islands; Vanuatu; West Bank and Gaza; Haiti; Laos; Myanmar, Afghanistan and Leste as fragile countries.

The release of the report coincides with the feud between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the mismanagement of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.

According to the report, the potential failure of Nigeria and Angola threatened to boost energy and commodities prices and slow economic growth.

Oil prices have fallen by 19 per cent since reaching a record $78.40 on July 14.

The IEG is also concerned that terrorism, drug production and weapon smuggling are spiralling.

“Neglecting the fragile states, half of whom are living in extreme poverty, risks a worsening of their misery,’’ said Vinod Thomas, the group’s Director-General. That in turn will feed “regional and global instability.”

The group, which reports to the World Bank’s board of executive directors rather than President Paul Wolfowitz, defines fragile states as low-income nations that score three or less on a scale of one to six measuring economic policies, social equality and public-sector management.

Lead author of the report, Ms Soniya Carvalho, said, “There could be large global spillovers if they(fragile countries) don’t do well.

“They could become hot beds of terrorist activity because there are large ungoverned areas. The imperative to do something in fragile states is very great.

“Donors don’t want to spend money in such countries because their governments don’t have the capacity to use the funds effectively to reduce poverty.

“The World Bank, which has lent $4.1bn to the fragile states in the past two years, and other donors need to boost investment in developing local expertise .

“Each donor has their pet areas and they support those and want changes to be made, but it adds up to a very formidable programme. This kind of overload is quite killing.’’

When contacted on the telephone in Japan, the Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Osita Ogbu, denounced the listing; saying that the assessment could not be true.

Ogbu said, “I am outside the country with President Obasanjo. But what is wrong with the World Bank? Don’t they have anything to do? How can they be releasing reports on Nigeria everyday?

“I am yet to see the report. But whatever the World Bank says cannot be true. How can the World Bank’s report on Nigeria be right, when the country’s reform programme had been commended globally?”

The report by the bank is not the first time that foreign agencies would predict Nigeria’s break-up. One such intelligence analysis by the United States government in 2003, said the country could break up in 15 years.

And in March 2006, the the New York Times said Nigeria was falling apart as a result of the failed third term bid of President Obasanjo.

Also in March, the US , in an advisory to the business community, described Nigeria as an investor’s nightmare in reference to the operating conditions in Africa’s biggest oil producer.

Pain,

I wish I was on their payroll, really. I visited a friend there when I was in Nigeria several months
ago, and I was impressed by their small setup and the young professionals working there. I doubt
if they have up to about 20 people on payroll. A couple of them are young Nigerian professionals
from the UK I believe, and they pay well from what I understand

I am just a believer in the Transcorp experiment, I do have family who participated in the private
placement at my prodding, so in that aspect I do have a vested interest in Transcorp. Like I said
earlier, Transcorp is looking better than I had expected. I knew Obasanjo's investment interest in
the company will remain controversial and I wasn't sure he had the tact to pull out , but with his
early exit, it can only be a win for Transcorp.

@Mariory,

1. There is no 'Blind Trusts Miscellaneous Regulations Law' in the Nigerian Constitution.

2. Even if there was, the insulation provided by ‘Blind Trust’ would not apply after the concerned party has assumed office.

*Please read the articles again. This issue is properly deconstructed. See, for instance, this portion:

The major portion of our laws that deal with conduct of public officers is as contained in Schedule 5 of the Nigerian Constitution. Permit me to quote some relevant sections which provides inter alia: Section 1 - "A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities? Section 6 (1) A public officer shall not ask for or accept property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties. Section 7 (b) The President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor, Minister of the Government of the Federation or Commissioner of the Government of a State, or any other public officer who holds the office of a Permanent Secretary or head of any public corporation, university, or other parastatal organisation shall not accept any benefit of whatever nature from any company, contractor, or businessman, or the nominee or agent of such person. Section 8 - No persons shall offer a public officer any property, gift or benefit of any kind as an inducement or bribe for the granting of any favour or the discharge in his favour of the public officer's duties. Section 9 -   A public officer shall not do or direct to be done, in abuse of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of any other person knowing that such act is unlawful or contrary to any government policy. Section 11 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every public officer shall within three months after the coming into force of this Code of Conduct or immediately after taking office and thereafter (a) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office, submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all his properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of eighteen years. Section 11 (2)   Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this Code. Section 11 (3) Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this Constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift, or loan approved by this Code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this Code unless the contrary is proved. Section 13. A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Code through a nominee, trustee, or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Code.

In view of the above, an illegal act was indeed committed when Transcorp shares were acquired, just as illegal acts were committed when both the Presidential Library and Private University were launched.

*Glaring questions thrown up by King Kong’s activities include (but are not limited to): (a) Why the denial of his ownership of Transcorp shares until it became all too obvious, and (b) Why is he divesting now (let’s assume he really is) if his actions were above board?

Nutter:

@Mariory,

2. Even if there was, the insulation provided by ‘Blind Trust’ would not apply after the concerned party has assumed office.

Yes it would. That is the purpose of blind trusts. To allow public office holders to partake in the private sector without the risk of a conflict of interest.

From the links you posted.
http://www.dawodu.com/aluko142.htm
The ethical dilemma which the President has entangled himself with - the multi-billion- naira donations by Corporate Nigeria both to his 2003 Campaign and to the Presidential Library Fund; the establishment of a private University at Bells Technological University in the midst of the declining fortunes of our public universities; and now the allegations of "blind trust" holdings in a highly-favored Transcorp - constitute a really troubling pattern. One gets the feeling that he is not properly advised by lawyers around him, and/or by his public relations handlers that a person in such a high position can be easily accused - and rightly so - of unrighteous influence peddling. There is a certain base level in which these activities can be described as strictly "legal", but at another level of public decency and perception, they leave a uncomfortable stink when every spirit of the law has been violated.

The president can do better. He should indeed speak to the nation on Transcorp and his involvement - and quickly too - and make amends if necessary.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/opinion/editorial/2006/aug/24/editorial-24-08-2006-001.htm
The constitutional provision on the Code of Conduct for Public Officers states that a public official shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. He should also not engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade. The only exclusion here, however, is engaging in farming.

On the other hand, a blind trust is a trust arrangement for the management of assets in which the owner has no voice, used especially to avoid conflict of interests. Politicians often place their assets in blind trusts so that they cannot be accused of conflict of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.

In spite of the explanations so far generated in defence of the president’s action, we hold that it is morally wrong for Obasanjo to buy shares into Transcorp while in office. His vision for the corporation is supposed to be international and doing business that will benefit Nigerians. Everything is wrong with the president’s buying of 200 million shares in a company that has almost bought everything the Federal Government is selling.

His office imposes certain restrictions on his conduct with or without a blind trust. This action is as immoral and questionable as his erection of a Presidential Library as well as a university while in office. There are certain things that one ought not do while in office to avoid raising eyebrows. This singular issue has put a question mark on the various transactions so far conducted between the government and the corporation.
We deplore any subterranean moves by a few powerful individuals to appropriate all indices of our common national heritage.

To put due process, transparency and anti-corruption crusade on course, the president should divest forthwith from Transcorp and let the company be run like any other truly Nigerian company as quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. That is how the corporation can live up to the expectations and dreams of its founders.

Although these two articles show strong reservations about his companies investment in Transcorp, on no occassion do they use the word illegal because it isin't.

The EFCC itself is corrupt,

Iyke_D,

It's the setup that makes the whole thing look quite impressive, I'll be paying Nigeria a brief visit soon on an unrelated business trip and may drop in @ TransCorp whilst I'm there, I hope I can get to meet Nicholas Okoye, but I hear he is in Abuja most of the time. I was up until recently getting a number of investors together to invest a significant sum and make it worthwhile, I here they'll be listing soon on the Stock Exchange, so may buy then on the floor of the NSE before the IPO (who knows, it may be listed at the same N6 per share as the Private Placement and with enough people willing to sell!!).

Any info you have for me will be much appreciated, where are you based?

@Nutter,

I sometimes wonder why some of us will easily google something, come up with links even without taking time to understand the content and use same to support or oppose a position.

I am happy you were able to point the issue of code of conduct even based on the same link Mariory posted.

:-x

solosqr,

I don't know what planet you are living in, but ALL man made institutions are corrupt. The
real question is how pervasive is the corruption and how effective is the organization inspite
of that. As far as institution goes, the EFCC has to rank top as one of the LEAST corrupt and
MOST effective institution in Nigeria.

Even, the World Bank thinks EFCC is tackling corruption. But you know what, you don't have
to believe because that will be giving Obasanjo some credit, something some people can not
bring themselves to do.

Consider this for a minute:
Ribadu was a nobody prior to Obasanjo's administration and he is from the north. If he is as
corrupt and a tool as some people say, don't you guys think he will be a multi millionaire by
now? All he has to do is resign his post and spill the beans as to how his boss is using him to
harass fellow northerners. Imagine what IBB, Atiku, and others will pay him to collaborate
their defense that they are being unjustly prosecuted for their political aspirations?

@Mariory,

One of the articles whose link I posted provides the example of (US) Senator Frist who inherited a company from his late father before he became Senator. The process he followed, as stipulated by US law, depicts the rigour with which matters concerning Blind Trust are effected. Please read it again.

You highlight number 2 but ignore number 1? On the question of legality, we cannot use the issue of Blind Trust in our judgement of KK’s conduct. Like I said before, there is no 'Blind Trusts Miscellaneous Regulations Law' in the Nigerian Constitution. None. We cannot judge him based on US law. It doesn’t transfer in this instance. KK took an oath to uphold the Nigerian Constitution. It is therefore on the basis of that document that we should draw our conclusions. Following from this, in our judgement of conduct, we can only turn to Code of Conduct stipulations. KK’s actions are a breach of this Code. Or are they not? See Sections 1, 6 (1), 7 (b), 8, 9, 11 (1), 11(2), 11(3) and 13. These tell me that what he did/is doing was/is illegal.

*I hope you are aware that Atiku was offered 100 million shares in Transcorp when the coy was being formed. He declined because of the obvious conflict of interest.

*I hope you are also aware that Gov Obi of Anambra State gave up his Chairmanship of a bank upon assumption of elected office.

What remains unanswered is why KK, through his media spokesperson, Mrs Oluremi Oyo, denied ownership of the shares. Why is he now supposedly divesting? These are not the actions of a man confident in the legality of his conduct.

@Afam,

Afam:

@Nutter,

I sometimes wonder why some of us will easily google something, come up with links even without taking time to understand the content and use same to support or oppose a position.

I am happy you were able to point the issue of code of conduct even based on the same link Mariory posted.

Cheers, mate. I was taken aback myself.